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16 Feb 2009, 05:26

Maybe another question you might want to consider is: do I want to be surrounded by people who are on average 15 years younger than me for 2 years? It sounds a bit silly, but even between 24 and 30y old, there is a pretty substantial gap in terms of objectives and maturity, as I have been noticing at Wharton (which, despite its reputation for being an older-applicant friendly school, is trending very young this year - unfortunately). Don't underestimate that factor.
_________________

Wharton admits, join the rugby team!! It'll be by far the best experience of your MBA life

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16 Feb 2009, 09:38

The above posts raise legitimate issues. From my perspective, the exec option does not allow for sufficient elective course study and seems to targt mid-level managers in larger corporate orgs. Given my entreperneurial bent, I seek the freedom to explore tangentially related topics that interest me and that broaden my tool kit. Also, one of the most valuable throughputs of bschool is the network that comes with two years of proximity to and immersion with talented and driven classmates. I have spoken with graduates of the exec programs at a few different exec programs and, according to them, the program does not cultivate the depth of relationships which are so valuable. Additionally, The age and maturity of younger candidates does not erect any barrier for me - I mentor young marreid men and some of my deepest friendships are with people 10-15 years my junior. As far as the time and money, neither is of concern to me especially in the current economic climate. I do not consider spending two years at any top 10 mba program learning and improving a waste of time irrespective of the nature of the employment post graduation.

Last edited by comebackkid on 16 Feb 2009, 12:39, edited 1 time in total.

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16 Feb 2009, 10:13

I haven't seen aggregate numbers -- i.e., percentage of students enrolled who are 35+, etc. -- but anecdotally, I've met a couple b-schoolers at top programs who were late 30s or older. Wharton in particular skews older if you look at the average age at matriculation, so that might be a good target. Not sure about specifics at other schools, but I would go for it!

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16 Feb 2009, 10:27

comebackkid wrote:

The above posts raise legitimate issues. From my perspective, the exec option does not allow for sufficient elective course study and seems to targt mid-level managers in larger corporate orgs. Given my entreperneurial bent, I seek the freedom to explore tangentially related topics that interest me and that broaden my tool kit. Also, one of the most valuable throughputs of bschool is the network that comes with two years of proximity to and immersion with talented and driven classmates. I have spoken with graduates of the exec programs at a few different exec programs and, according to them, the program does not cultivate the depth of relationships which are so valuable. Additionally, The age and maturity of younger candidates does not erect any barrier for me - I mentor young marreid men and soem of my deepest friendships are with people 10-15 years my junior. As far as the time and money, neither is of concern to me especially in the current economic climate. I do not consider spending two years at any top 10 mba program learning and improving a waste of time irrespective of the nature of the employment post graduation.

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16 Feb 2009, 17:06

comebackkid,

Certainly you have the numbers to be competitive at these schools, and they do admit a handful of older applicants like yourself. Your career history appears to be very strong so you would have the leadership they would look for. You didn't mention extracurricular or community leadership, which is another important piece the top schools look for. If you have as strong a profile outside of work as you do in then you might be one of the handful of "oldsters" these schools might consider. I do think that of the four schools you mentioned, Stanford is the most unlikely.

W/E: nontraditional career tract ~ 160 months as small business entrepreneur: successfully started and operated multiple successful small businesses in two sectors: retail and financial services (mortgage banking) - multiple patents pending related to technology mentioned below. Owned two restaurants: one for ten years and the other for three (still operating). Own mortgage company 5 years (still operating).

Plans after MBA: start a vertically integrated mortgage company, leveraging proprietary software and a low-cost pricing model made possible by technological advantages to disenfranchise the dominant mortgage broker (think hybrid of Carmax and Dell). The competitive landscape in this industry is evolving and in the beginning stages of restructuring.

Alt Transcript: College Alg - A, Finite - A, currently taking calculus and stats - will have As in both

Schools:

WhartonStanfordMichiganDuke

viable?

I have considered and dispensed the exec and part-time options.

Comebackkid - have you considered European programs like IMD, INSEAD and Cranfield which have an older student body.

You would complete your MBA in one year- less loans, earlier entry back into corporate world.

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08 Mar 2009, 18:33

Scorpioguy-I have not considered any European schools. What do you know of Oxford/ Said and Cambridge/ Judge? If I chose to stay in Europe what would employment prospects look like for me considering my age and unorthodox work experience if I charted a different course into the corporate world?Comebackkid

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08 Mar 2009, 19:08

I think your profile is unique even at the age of 39.

I think Ross tends to take older applicants, and there are other schools that tend to favor older applicants. Although, an executive MBA program might be more ideal - there's nothing wrong with an attempt or two at a FT program.

W/E: nontraditional career tract ~ 160 months as small business entrepreneur: successfully started and operated multiple successful small businesses in two sectors: retail and financial services (mortgage banking) - multiple patents pending related to technology mentioned below. Owned two restaurants: one for ten years and the other for three (still operating). Own mortgage company 5 years (still operating).

Plans after MBA: start a vertically integrated mortgage company, leveraging proprietary software and a low-cost pricing model made possible by technological advantages to disenfranchise the dominant mortgage broker (think hybrid of Carmax and Dell). The competitive landscape in this industry is evolving and in the beginning stages of restructuring.

Alt Transcript: College Alg - A, Finite - A, currently taking calculus and stats - will have As in both

Schools:

WhartonStanfordMichiganDuke

viable?

I have considered and dispensed the exec and part-time options.

Just a quick note -- don't feel you need to defend your "poor" GPA. At your age, your GPA is pretty much irrelevant. It's not that bad anyways...

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10 Mar 2009, 18:39

A little about me - I am 33 years old and hence applied only to two US programs. I wanted to apply to Ross but the logistics did not work out and I finally dropped the app. Since I am not from Europe and not really planning to go into entrepreneurship I did not research programs from that angle.

Most European one year programs provide you with an excellent general management education. The programs that I looked at were IMD, INSEAD and Cranfield. I was planning to check into Cambridge and Oxford next but since I got through Cranfield (one of the top programs in UK) I decided to drop SBS and JBS. Also, Cranfield has about 40 years of experience in the MBA education field while SBS and JBS are more recent programs (I believe 10 -12 years).

I also applied to INSEAD for a chance to study in 2 different cultures and see how I might be able to bring in the best ideas to extend my career. INSEAD was also my strecth school.

IMD - They admit only a handful of candidates (90) and I decided against applying as I felt that the numbers worked against me.

All three schools are lenient to older applicants with INSEAD being the school with the lowest average age of 30.

Bottomline - I would suggest that you look into IMD, INSEAD, Cranfield, Cambridge and Oxford in that order. I did not look into the other European programs as they seemed to be more local (eg: HEC is huge in France, IE, IESE in Spain, Bocconi in Italy). FYI -it is my impressions about these programs and it may be totally off base.

I would also post your questions on European programs in the euro board to get more specific replies on the entrepreneurial aspect.